Civic Duty
by Alikins
Summary: The West Wing takes on Snood. Snood wins. Completed
1. Chapter 1

Title: Civic Duty

Disclaimer: _The West Wing_ belongs to Aaron Sorkin. Snood belongs to Dave Dobson. What happens when the two collide…that's just my mind having fun.

Author's Note: I really feel like this story is a few years late, but...I'm gonna post it anyway. The only thing setting a time is that Sam hasn't left yet. Other than that,it's just a fluffy piece. Also, the plot revolves around the awesome game Snood. There are certainly spots that you'll appreciate more if you're familiar with the game, but you can read the story without knowing anything about Snood. At least I think you can.

Civic Duty

Josh sighed, bouncing in his chair. It was a rare slow day, and while he knew he should be relishing it, he was simply bored. Looking for something to do, he wandered into the bullpen. Donna was sitting at her computer and, for the fifth time that day, jumped at his presence. Her screen flickered, and whatever had been on it disappeared, replaced by her standard desktop before Josh could see what it was.

Josh raised his eyebrow in interest, then grinned. He'd found his entertainment. He returned to his office and stood just inside the doorway, watching as Donna stopped tracking his position and turned back to her computer.

"Oh, Donna," he called out, causing her to jump and knock over a cup of pencils.

"Yes, Josh?" she replied, trying hard to be casual. She struggled to return all the pencils to their place as Josh walked over, leaning on her doorjamb.

"It's time for you to fess up," he said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, annoyed.

"This morning, every time I've walked by, you've been jumpy and fidgeting. So confess. What are you doing that you shouldn't be doing?"

"I have no idea what you mean," she claimed.

Josh laughed incredulously. "Donna! You might think you're being subtle, but you're not. You're doing something on your computer that you don't want anyone to see." Donna gave him a guilty look. "Is it internet porn?" he wondered.

Donna's guilty look turned to one of exasperation. "Josh!"

"You can tell me."

"It's not porn," she huffed.

"Okay," he said dramatically as she glared at him. "You know, I should yell at you." He sat on the edge of her desk to look down at her. "You obviously haven't been very productive. You're wasting important time."

"If today were so important, you wouldn't be sitting around thinking of ways to bug me."

"I'm your boss. It's my job to bug you."

"I don't think it is."

"Well, I know your job isn't to mess around on your computer. And you know that too. So why are you doing it?"

She looked up at him and gave in. "I know I shouldn't be doing it…I just can't stop. It's addicting, Josh."

"You're addicted to internet porn?"

"It's not porn!" Donna yelled, drawing some attention from the bullpen.

"Inside voice, Donna," Josh smirked.

"Shut up," she returned, pushing up from her chair and walking away.

"Wait, Donna." Josh caught her arm. "If it's not porn…what is it?"

"Snood."

Josh frowned. "Snood?"

"Yes."

"What's Snood?"

"It's a game."

Josh snorted derisively. "That's what this is about? A stupid game?"

"It's not stupid! It's Snood."

"So you've said." Donna sighed and sat back at her desk, clicking her mouse and returning the game to her screen. Josh blinked at the array of shapes and colors jumbled together. "This is it?"

"It is," Donna answered.

"What do you do?"

Donna turned to her game to demonstrate. "These things are Snoods. We want to take these Snoods on the bottom, here, and shoot them at the other Snoods. When at least three of the same Snoods are connected, like this—" she shot a Snood, "—they fall. The goal is to clear the whole screen."

"You call that a game?" Josh sneered.

"Yes," Donna sighed.

"It's a simple, mindless…there isn't even a plot or any meaning."

"We can't all be Dungeons and Dragons nuts, Joshua."

"Hey, I didn't…I hardly even—Sam went to a _camp_!"

"Okay," Donna grinned.

"Where'd you find this thing anyway?"

"My cousin Julie."

"You have a cousin Julie?"

"I've told you about her!"

"Have you?"

"She's a senior in High School? She's going to go to Notre Dame next year, and you told the President and he wrote her a letter congratulating her?"

Josh squinted, thinking hard. "I…sort of remember that."

Donna sighed. "Anyway, she went to visit there this weekend, and they showed her Snood. And then she wrote me an e-mail and told me about it."

"And…you find this amusing? You've really been spending all morning shooting little shape-y things at other shape-y things?"

"Snoods. And there's more to it than that. There's a strategy. Each level's like its own puzzle. And then there are the actual puzzle levels."

"Okay, so you have to think about where you're going to shoot these…'Snoods'. Big deal. You said you were addicted to this?"

Donna gave up, turning back to her game. "It's all over the college campuses, Josh," she said with her back to him.

"And as disturbing as it is that the next generation of America is so easily entertained, I'm more concerned about you, a government employee, playing this. I mean, the idea that a member of our staff is distracted by…" Donna banked a shot off a wall and knocked a large chunk of the Snoods out. "Whoa," Josh said, stunned.

"I know," Donna nodded with reverence.

"That was…how'd you do that?"

"Snoods hold each other in place. If you remove the Snoods above, the Snoods below will fall down, because there's nothing to hold them."

"So, if you use that purple one you have coming up, there," Josh pointed, "and shoot it up at those purples there, the green and blue ones will fall too?"

"Yeah, assuming I aim right," Donna smiled, quickly doing as he suggested. She shot, knocking the others off.

"Great," Josh whispered enthusiastically. He proceeded to watch quietly as Donna finished the game. She then entered her name for a high score. "There are scores?"

"Of course."

Josh looked the scores over. "How come some of these are in the thousands, and some are only hundreds?"

"I didn't win those. I just started on Easy, I've been playing Child."

"'Child'?"

"It's a level," Donna explained.

"For children."

"No. It's just called child because it's easier than Easy. There are less Snoods, and you can use the aimer."

"What's the—" before Josh could ask, Donna had opened a Child game. There was an X on the screen that moved as Donna moved her mouse. "That thing tells you where the Snoods are going to go?"

"Yes. See, you're getting the hang—"

"That ruins the whole point!" Josh angrily interrupted. "If you know where the Snoods are going to go, you don't have to give it any thought!"

"That's why this is the Child level, Joshua."

He thought that over. "Okay. But then you shouldn't be playing it."

"It was just to start. It gives you a feel for the game. Like training wheels."

"I don't need training wheels," Josh puffed. "Here, let me play one of those other ones. I'll beat your crappy scores."

"I thought this was a waste of time?" Donna wondered.

"Like there's anything we need to do. Lemme play!"

"Fine," Donna grinned, standing and letting him into her seat.

"But, uh…why don't you keep watch? Warn me if Leo's coming."

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Donna, you want—" CJ frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Snood," Donna answered. She was no longer bothering to hide the game, probably because she knew her boss was in his office doing the same thing. After Josh had commandeered her desk, determined to beat her high score, Donna had gone on his computer and downloaded another version. Half an hour later, when Josh had come into his office crowing over his victory, Donna had been more than happy to inform him he had a new set of high scores to beat. While Josh was busy with that, Donna had started to explore the Puzzle levels.

CJ was still frowning over Donna's shoulder. "What's—"

"Game," Donna preemptively answered.

"Oh." CJ watched, mesmerized, as Donna struggled, her Snoods near the bottom of the screen. After a few shots, the Snoods moved down and she lost.

"Damn," she yelled, hitting the keyboard a little too hard to enter her score. She then remembered CJ behind her. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, turning.

"No…this is certainly better than how I've been killing time between briefings."

"Yeah, it's really slow here today, isn't it?"

"Congress isn't in session, the President's at Camp David…"

"When's he getting back?"

"Sometime tonight. By tomorrow things will be hectic again." Donna started a new game. She'd played the first level many times by then, and barely had to think about what she was doing. "Where'd you find this?" CJ asked.

"My cousin." Donna continued playing, and they sat in silence for a while, Donna playing and CJ watching. "So, what's up?" Donna asked when she finished the first level.

"Oh, right," CJ said. "Lunch. You wanna share Chinese?"

"Sesame Chicken?"

"And some Lo Mien."

"Sounds good."

"You think Josh wants anything?"

Without missing a beat of the game, Donna picked up her phone and dialed Josh.

"Yeah?"

"Want Chinese?"

"No. Have food."

"'Kay." She hung up. "He has food."

"Okay." CJ pointed to the screen. "Go there."

"Ooh, yeah, that's a good shot." Donna completed the shot and finished the level. "You're picking this up much quicker than Josh."

"I'm quicker than Josh in most situations." They focused on the game for a few moments before CJ asked, "Josh is playing too?"

"Yeah, he's trying to beat me."

CJ smiled. She watched a little bit longer, then remembered her purpose. "So, anyway, I'll call over when the food gets here?"

"Yeah, good," Donna nodded.

"Okay," CJ said, starting to walk away. "And Donna? Bring the Snood."

* * *

"How the hell do you do this?" CJ exclaimed. 

"This is worse than that other one," Donna frowned. Just moments ago they had been elated. Having finally figured out level eight, and level nine being fairly simple, they had reached level ten, farther than they'd ever gotten before. Unfortunately, it was absolutely impossible. Donna stabbed her fork into the mostly full container of Lo Mien. "You want any more of this?" she asked.

"No, I'm done," CJ said, focused on the game, her nose practically touching the screen as she looked for a solution.

"You keep working on it, I'm gonna bring this to Josh."

"I thought he had food."

"Yes, but he probably hasn't moved from his computer to get it. Plus I want to see if he's beaten my score yet."

"Okay. Mock him for the both of us."

"Don't worry, I will."

Donna walked over to his office and confirmed her suspicions. Josh hadn't moved from his desk. He was concentrating so much that he didn't even notice her come in. "Eat this," she said, dropping the container on his desk.

"Ah!" Josh jumped, startled. "Scared the hell out of me, Donna."

"Sorry," she said, sounding nothing of the sort. "How's it going?"

"Wonderfully," he smirked.

"You beat my score?"

"No. I stopped playing Easy, I moved on to the puzzles."

"Me too." He was still smirking. She took the bait. "Is it going well for you?"

"It started off slow, but I am _great_ at these puzzles."

"Have you gotten past them all?"

His smirk dropped a little. "No, I'm a little stuck. But it's okay, 'cause it's really impossible, and there's no way anyone can beat it."

Donna nodded understandingly. "Level ten."

Josh's smirk completely disappeared. "No, eight. You got to _ten_?" Donna nodded with a smile. "No," he said. "You're making this up."

"I absolutely am not."

"There's no way you beat this level!" He yelled, standing up and gesturing to the screen. "It's…I don't believe you."

"All right," she shrugged. "I'm gonna be in CJ's—"

"Wait!" He stopped her on the way out. "Prove it to me. Beat it."

She sat in his chair, pausing before she started. "You care to make a bet?"

"No. I don't want to take your money. That is how confident I am that you will not get past this entirely impossible—" Donna shot three Snoods, leaned back in Josh's chair and wished she had a camera.

Josh was sputtering. She had heard of people being so dumbfounded they couldn't form words, but this was the first time she had experienced it. It was quite amusing. She stood and patted Josh's head on the way out. "I'm sure you'd have gotten it eventually."

* * *

They were still on level ten. It had been almost an hour, and they couldn't get past the damn level. Just as they lost again, an intern appeared in CJ's doorway. 

"Donna? I think Josh is yelling for you."

Donna walked over and stuck her head into the hallway.

"DONNA!"

"Yeah. That's Josh."

"I should probably start getting ready for the briefing anyway," CJ said.

"Okay. I'll keep trying from my computer." Donna left and walked calmly through the halls, hearing Josh call for her a couple more times before she reached him. "What?" she glared from his doorway.

"Where were you? You weren't at your desk, 'cause I've been calling you."

"If you knew I wasn't at my desk, why did you keep yelling?" Josh was unable to answer. Donna rolled her eyes. "I was in CJ's office."

"What were you doing there?"

"We were playing Snood."

"Oh, good. More people in on the conspiracy."

Donna frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You stole this!"

"What?" she groaned.

"Snood. You didn't tell me I was stealing anything!"

"You're not. It's free."

"Nun-uh." He pointed to the screen as Donna suppressed a giggle. "This thing is asking me to register."

"Oh, that. Don't worry about that, it's nothing."

"It's not nothing! It says it cost $14.95. I didn't pay $14.95. You hacked into some…thing and stole the game!"

"I didn't steal anything! This is a trial version. A demo. After you play awhile it starts asking you to register and get the complete version. But the demo's free."

"But now we need to pay for it."

"No. You can keep playing the demo."

"But that would be stealing!"

"It really wouldn't," Donna sighed. "In the demo you get unlimited Child and Easy, and one hundred games of the other levels. Have you played any other levels?"

"I tried Medium…"

"That's what I thought. You also get the first fifteen Puzzle levels. Since we can't get past level ten—"

"'The _first_ fifteen'? How many of these are there?"

"In the complete version, fifty."

"And we can't get past _ten_?"

"Exactly. Now, the only other thing you get when you register is use of the Aimer, and since we know how you feel about that, there's no reason to register."

Josh pouted. "But…but…Dave's kids need clothes. And Dave's kids need food."

"Well, then, Dave should stop trying to make a quick buck and get a real job."

"Donna!" His mouth hung open. "How can you say that about Dave?"

"You don't even know him!"

"He invented this game, and for that he is surely an artist who needs our support."

"Okay. Feel free to register."

"I will."

"It'll be fun to explain at financial disclosure time."

Josh sat back in his chair. "Hmm. You have a point. Maybe I should hold off on the registering."

"At least until you can get past this level," Donna nodded.

"There must be some trick," he said, refocusing on the game. "If there are forty levels after this, we must be making it harder than it is."

"I don't know. It seems pretty complicated."

"That's what I thought about 8, and now it's easy."

"Yeah, but that was you. I can't get past 10 either."

Josh turned to her. "What are you insinuating, Donatella?"

"That I'm better at Snood than you."

"Oh, I don't think so!" He was quickly gearing up for a fight. "I would like to see you try to beat my high score."

"I'll do more than try." Donna was leaning on the edge of his desk, looking down at him. Their eyes met, and they slowly nodded.

"Game on?"

"Game on."


	3. Chapter 3

Toby knocked on Josh's doorframe. "Josh—"

"No asking Toby!" Josh quickly yelled.

Toby walked into the office with a frown. Donna was hunched over Josh's computer, while Josh paced behind her. "Do I want to know?" he asked.

"I'm about to demolish his score, so Josh is trying to distract me with inane trivia questions he probably just made up." She leaned back for a second. "Who cares how many words start with 'Dw'?"

Toby smirked. "You're stealing the President's trivia?"

"It's not 'The President's trivia'. Trivia can't belong to anyone. I gained knowledge of these facts and am now sharing that knowledge."

Toby raised his eyebrows. "Yeah. Okay."

"Yes!" Donna interrupted. "I got eight in two Snoods!"

"No way!" Josh whined.

Donna did a little victory dance in Josh's chair. Josh glared at her. Toby sighed. "God knows I'll regret asking, but what the hell are you talking about?"

"It's a…" Josh paused. "It's part of this game."

"Come look," Donna said, waving him towards her.

Toby walked around the desk and looked at the computer screen. "Oh. This is why CJ wasn't paying attention when I was talking to her?"

"Yeah," Donna nodded.

"And why Sam's practically locked himself in his office?"

"You showed Sam too?" Josh asked.

"He came by during lunch and saw it." She hit the desk. "Damn!"

"What?" Josh asked excitedly.

"I just missed a shot. I'm still alive. And I _will_ beat your score."

"Yeah, but do you know what fruit has its seeds on the outside?"

"Oh, God," Toby groaned. "You could at least use interesting ones."

Josh waited a second in silence. "It's the strawberry."

Donna rolled her eyes. "No one cares, Jo—NO!"

"YES!" Josh screamed as the Snoods turned to skulls.

"No way!" Donna raged. She entered her name, and when it appeared right under Josh's, a new wave of shouting started.

"Yes! I'm da man! Undefeated!" He somewhat danced his way to the desk, collapsing in his chair with his arms above his head. "I'm the winner, still champion, and I know that the three words starting with 'dw' are dwarf, dwindle and dwell."

Donna glared. "How about 'dweeb'?"

Josh and Toby froze, their mouths hanging open slightly.

"Dweeb," Toby said quietly.

"That…that's…" Josh stuttered. "How did you miss that?" he asked Toby.

"Why am _I_ the one who missed it?"

"You're the speechwriter. I don't specialize in language."

Donna snorted. "Sure, Mr. 760 Verbal."

Toby raised his eyebrows slightly at Josh, who grumbled. "You know, Sam really should have gotten it," he replied.

"Don't pick on Sam," Donna reprimanded. "Now hurry up and lose so I can really beat your score."

Josh glared and started a new game as the phone rang. "Why don't you do your job and answer that?"

Donna rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. "Josh Lyman's office. Hey, Charlie." She paused a second. "Yeah, he's over here, you want to…" She bit her bottom lip slightly as she listened. "No problem. Bye." She hung up and turned to Toby. "He said to tell you it'll be a couple more hours before the President's ready to look at the speech."

Josh looked up from the game. "The President's back?"

Toby blinked at him, then turned to Donna. "Did he say why?"

Donna shook her head, walking behind the desk to hover over Josh's shoulder. "He just said the President would be busy for a few hours."

Josh tilted his head back to look at her. "So, if the President's back, does that mean I should be working?"

"Nah," Donna shrugged. "No one else is."

"Uh, _I_ am," Toby added from across the room.

"You've been standing here for about ten minutes," Donna pointed out.

"That's because I came here to get the HUD report, and somehow got dragged into this whole…Newt mess."

"Snood," Josh and Donna corrected together.

"Whatever! Can I have the damn thing?"

"Uh," Josh half-heartedly shuffled papers around on his desk. "I'm not sure where I put it. Can you wait until I finish this game?" Toby glared. "You have time," Josh pointed out. "Just wait."

"Fine," Toby sighed, sinking into Josh's visitor chair.

He took out a notebook and flipped through it. That occupied a few minutes of his time, but then he was done, and Josh and Donna were still enthralled by the game. He glared at them, but they didn't notice. He stood, pacing around the room. They still didn't notice. In fact, they were in the middle of a heated argument.

"You have to bank it!"

"I've _been_ banking it, Donna! It doesn't work!"

"That's 'cause you're banking it in the wrong spot." Donna pointed at the screen. "You've got to shoot over there somewhere."

"No, I don't! All I've been doing every time I've played this level is shoot over there. I've tried fifty million different angles, and no Snood has gotten through."

"Well…just keep trying!"

"You know, the definition of insanity is—"

"I know the definition of insanity!" she snapped. "But there is no other way. There are skulls all around except for that one path. We just have to find the right spot."

"So you want me to just keep trying, moving a tiny fraction and shooting again, and again, and again, and—"

"Oh, for God's sake!" Toby exploded from behind them. Both Donna and Josh jumped at his voice, having mainly forgotten he was there. He moved forward, commandeering the mouse from a frazzled Josh. "If you want the ball to hit the wall over there, you bounce it off this wall here so that it hits that wall at that angle, sending it up…" he hit the mouse button, launching the Snood on the path he described. It hit the desired point, knocking out all the snoods and completing the level. "…there."

Donna laughed and picked up the phone. Josh sat stunned, blinking several times. "You…you did it. You _did_ it."

"Yeah. Now move," Toby grumbled, already surveying the next level. Josh complied readily.

"CJ!" Donna said into the phone. "Toby figured it out! You gotta come here!"


	4. Chapter 4

Leo flipped a page and got the feeling that someone was watching him. He looked up and saw Charlie lurking in his doorway. "Hey, Charlie," Leo said, kindly.

"Hi, Leo," Charlie replied, gloomy. Leo frowned.

"Charlie? Is something wrong?

Tentatively, Charlie stepped into Leo's office. "I've done something bad."

Leo's frown deepened. "What is it?"

"I knew it was wrong, but I just couldn't…"

"What?"

He let out a sigh. "There's…this game. It's called Snood."

Leo rolled his eyes. "It's a light day. It's okay if you were goofing off."

"I know. But…then the President came back."

"Honestly, there's still nothing going on," Leo assured him. "The President isn't doing anything either."

"Oh, he's doing _something_."

Leo froze. "Charlie, tell me the President isn't playing this game."

Charlie bowed his head, ashamed. "He just wandered out of the office, and it was on my screen, and he didn't have anything to do, so he was asking about it. And I tried to tell him he wouldn't like it, but…he was so insistent." Leo quietly absorbed what he was saying. "He's been at it for about an hour and a half now, and…I don't know what to do."

Leo finally recovered. "Are you telling me that the President of the United States, for the past hour and a half, has been at his aide's desk, playing a computer game?"

"Well…no. He moved my laptop into the Oval Office."

"Oh, that's much better," Leo muttered.

"There's more," Charlie said softly.

"There's _more_?"

"The game is Shareware." Leo shot Charlie an annoyed look, and Charlie quickly explained. "It's like a trial. You play it, and eventually these…poems pop up, asking you to pay for it. So, the President saw these poems…"

"Oh, God no," Leo muttered.

"…and he got it in his head that he has to pay for this." Charlie sighed. "I've been telling him that he can't, that it will look horrible, but…you know how he is."

Leo sighed. "Yes, I do."

"So I came to get you."

Leo pushed himself out of his chair. "You did the right thing, Charlie." He walked into the Oval Office, Charlie slowly following. "Good evening, Mr. President."

"Leo, you've got to look at this game," the President said excitedly.

"I think it's better if I don't, sir."

The President looked up and saw Leo's serious face and Charlie lurking in the background. "You ratted me out?" he asked Charlie.

"He did what he was supposed to," Leo answered.

"He told on me, like a tattletale, running to teacher."

"You really want to discuss maturity while you're playing a video game?"

"Leo! It's not just some children's game. It's wonderful."

Leo looked over at Charlie, who shrugged. "It is a good game," he said quietly.

"Leo, seriously," the President said, "what is the problem if I happen to, while there is nothing that I need to be doing, no official business of any kind, what is the problem if I spend some time playing this game?"

"There's no problem, sir, unless someone happens to find out about it, which they will if you write a check."

"That's what this is about? You don't want me to register?"

Leo nodded. "You absolutely cannot register."

"I have to!"

"No, you don't, sir."

"Yes I do. It said, right here, registering is my civic duty."

"I think that you're fulfilling your civic duty by being President, don't you, sir?"

"Leo, this man, this Dave, he has come up with an idea and invented this game and is trying to make a living off of his invention. This is what America is about! It's creativity and entrepreneurship and a free market, and we should be celebrating him, not exploiting him! What could be wrong with the President publicly supporting this man who is trying to live out the American dream?"

"Well, it won't be seen that way, it'll be seen as the President goofing off and playing computer games when he should be running the country."

"Oh, that's ridiculous," the President dismissed.

"Many things are, Mr. President, but that is the world we live in."

"And isn't it our job to change that world, not accept it?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "This is where you want to make a great change? This is the legacy you want to leave, the wise Josiah Bartlet, who secured everyone's right to play a video game while they're working?"

The President was quiet for a moment. "Leo, if you play the game—"

Leo turned on his heel. "Charlie, where'd you find this thing?"

"Sam told me. He said he saw CJ and Donna playing it."

Leo glowered. "Get the word out. Anyone who knows what this stupid thing is should be in the Oval Office in fifteen minutes." Charlie nodded, and Leo turned back to the President. He was playing the game again. "And take that damn computer away from him!"


	5. Chapter 5

Leo let himself into the Oval Office, surveying the small gathering. The President glared at him over the top of his glasses; thank God, he'd apparently been handed something to read. Charlie stood behind the President, his eyes glued to his shoes. Leo grinned at the boy's bashfulness, and checked out the rest of the culprits.

Before entering he'd known he'd see his Deputy, hands stuffed in his pockets, petulantly leaning his hip into the edge of a chair. CJ, Sam and Donna were seated shoulder-to-shoulder on a couch, looking very much like kids waiting their turn with the Principal.

Behind him, the door he'd closed opened again, and Margaret snuck in, taking an empty seat. Leo glared at her, but wasn't at all surprised that she was a participant. The man leaning against the wall, however…

"Toby? You're part of this?"

"He's the best one," CJ grumbled.

"Just 'cause he figured out that one level he's the best?" Josh complained.

"Maybe 'cause all my scores beat yours?" Toby wondered quietly.

"Hey, I have the Easy high score," Josh countered.

"Yeah, you only spent all morning playing it," Donna scoffed.

"Guys, it's really all about the Snoods you get," Sam said reasonably.

"No, that's only one factor," the President cut in. "You need to know what to do with them, too."

"Okay!" Leo interrupted. "No more talking about this."

"But, Leo…"

"No!" He watched the argument fall out of Josh's face. "Now, is this all of you?"

"Well, Ginger was playing too," Sam said, "but she went home already."

"Fine. You'll fill her in tomorrow." Leo centered himself among the group. "I've contacted the tech department, and by tomorrow they will have removed this game from every computer. None of you are to download it again. What you do on your own time is your own business, but when you're in the White House, you will not be playing any games. Is that understood?"

"Why'd you look at me when you said that?" Josh wondered.

"Because, Josh, I have a hunch that this whole thing is your fault."

"No, it's Donna's fault!"

"Josh!" CJ scolded.

"She's the first one to play it, and she showed me!"

Leo sympathized as the poor girl stammered, her face turning red. "I did not at all mean for this to become such a big thing! I was just playing…"

"She didn't hold you down and force you to play, did she, Josh? You still possess the power of making your own decisions?"

"Well, yeah, but, Leo…this game. You don't get this game."

Leo rolled his eyes, but noticed that the rest of the group was smiling in Zen-like appreciation. He scoffed.

"Well, if I'm going to turn into a zealot like you all, I'd rather _not_ get it."

His statement was met with blank stares.

"Okay. So, once again, is everyone clear? No one will play the game, and certainly no one will be registering."

"Leo!" The President was glaring at him again, and Josh was nodding his head enthusiastically.

"This man is a genius. He deserves to get paid for his work."

"Maybe, but none of you are going to be using his work, so you shouldn't be the ones paying for it."

"But I did use it, and I'm going to pay for it, Leo."

The President was being insistent, and Leo was briefly tempted to just resign and let them all handle the fallout. Instead, he took a deep breath and tried for reason.

"Sir, if you register, it will leave an official trail linking you to the game. This guy wouldn't exactly _have_ to be a genius to contact the press when he gets a check from the President."

"I _want_ him to get the press!"

"It's not going to be good press, Mr. President! This game will become synonymous with shirking responsibility and laying down on the job. Is that really what you want?"

"Of course not. That's why we'll have to spin it a different way."

Leo turned away, clenching his fists in frustration, when he saw a hand rising into the air. Donna timidly bit her lip, lowering her hand slightly as she noticed the room stopping to look.

"You don't actually have to raise your hand," Sam said quietly to her.

"I'm sort of remembering that now," she replied, mortified.

"Don't be mean to the girl," the President said to the room. "She's simply being polite. I know the idea is foreign to some of you."

"Uh, I'm not gonna start doing that."

"No one thought you would, Tobus," CJ said, eyes rolling.

"Good," he replied.

"Donna," Leo got everyone's attention again. "You had something to say?"

"Yes. Mr. President, Zoey's birthday is coming up soon, right?"

"Two weeks," he nodded.

"Well, maybe you could make it a present. For her. There isn't an image problem with Zoey playing Snood, and it'll still get the press."

CJ was nodding along. "We can make an announcement—the press will eat up anything we feed them about your family. The website will crash from the traffic it'll get after everyone hears it's the First Daughter's favorite birthday present."

"It's the perfect coverage," Sam said.

Leo nodded slowly. "You get your precious registration, the game gets its press, and we don't have to deal with any negative fallout."

"Yes, it would all be perfect except that we're using my daughter's birthday for political gain."

"It's not 'political gain' so much as 'avoiding utter embarrassment," Leo put in.

The President ignored him. "There has to be a way to do this without forcing an unwanted present on my daughter?"

"Um…sir?" All heads turned to Charlie. "I'm fairly certain she'd love it."

"Yeah? How can you be so sure?"

"Well, when I was talking to her earlier, and I mentioned that you wanted a registered version, she said, 'Oh, I'd love that.'"

Leo held in a snicker, but the President shot him a warning glance anyway. "Yeah, yeah," he grumped. "Like she's a reliable source. She said she'd love a horse, too."

"She has a horse," Sam frowned.

"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "She loves it."

"He's in Manchester, she hardly sees him, how much could she love him?"

"Well," Leo answered, "She manages to be fairly fond of you, sir, and the horse never gives her pop math quizzes, so…"

"Wiseass," he muttered.

"Are you okay now?" Leo wondered. "Zoey will be happy, this guy will get his money, and we can go back to, you know, _running the country_."

"Yes, yes," he said, waving his hand. "That's what we'll do. Good job, Donna."

She looked up, her eyes wide and her lips turning up in a smile. "Thank you, sir."

Leo couldn't help but smile himself, faced with Donna's delight at having simply pleased the President. But then he looked towards the President and received a 'you old softy' eyebrow raise, and the smile quickly dropped off his face.

"All right, so this is settled. You all are going to leave, come back tomorrow like today never happened, and we'll never speak of this again?"

"Yes, Leo," they all chorused, except for Toby, who _did_ manage to look up from his shoes with a contrite look, and the President, who rolled his eyes, still convinced everyone had overreacted. That was going to have to be enough, Leo guessed.

"Okay. Let's go then, let the President actually do some work."

"Thank you, Mr. President," they muttered, shuffling towards the door. With a final, disapproving glare from the President, Leo returned to his office. Within a few moments, Donna appeared at his other door.

"Leo," she sighed. "I am so sorry—"

"Don't," Leo interrupted. "You did a good job fixing this."

"I started it," she protested.

"I'm sure, regardless of what you mayhavedone, Josh would have found some way to turn today into a disaster. I guess I should be happy he didn't start playing hallway hockey again."

"Or try to find the pool under the press room again," she offered.

"Or invent a secret…cure for hangnails." They both smiled. "You wouldn't think the Deputy Chief of Staff would need so much baby sitting," he muttered. "But you do a lot more than that, Donna. You're a valuable part of this team. Don't doubt that."

"Thank you, Leo," she whispered, even more touched than before.

He smiled, and she nodded, walking to the door. "Oh, Donna," he called after her. "Next time you get bored, read a book or something, will ya?"

"Yes, sir," she called back, a smile in her voice.

The End.


End file.
